March 02, 2015

This article originally appeared in Claudia's newsletter. To subscribe, click here.

First things first:

Quite a few of you have written to ask me how I manage my pain. I am not a doctor. I only know what works for me. There are a lot of experts who write about this topic, so I'll share links.

This is MY list. This is what I do. I'm not going to debate the science. You asked what works for me - and that's what I'm going to tell you.

Please talk to your doctor before you try anything. Please try things out for yourself. Don't just take my word for it. Follow the links, talk to your folks, and give it a shot.

Also, this is what works for me right now. If we talked tomorrow, I might be doing something different. And some strategies change with the seasons. For example, I tend to use more ice in the summer and heat in the winter.

You need to uncover what works for you at this moment in time, and be flexible to try something new tomorrow.

Here are my top five day in day out strategies that help with my pain.

Anti-inflammatory diet: The basic idea is that processed foods, fast food, fried foods, and most meat can cause your immune system to move into hyperdrive. Inflammation=pain. An anti-inflammatory diet is basically a whole food diet with an emphasis on more oils (like fish oils) and more vegetables. The actual nutritional science is supported by long distance runners such as Scott Jurak and Rich Roll. Oh, and me!

Most of the time, pain is just pain: The mind is always trying to make sense of what's going on in the body. When you're in pain, your mind often interprets your pain as something to panic over or feel victimized by ("Why is this happening to me?"). Most of the time, pain is just pain. It doesn't mean anything. You need to learn when pain is something to pay attention to (injury, life threatening), which is rare, or when it's just pain.

Move your body every day: The body was designed to move. Pain makes us want to stop. This is exactly the wrong thing to do. Lack of movement makes your pain worse and keeps your mind stuck. Sometimes, the most I can do is walk and other times the best I can do is take my joints through slow range of motion exercises. Start slow. Find what you can do when you're at your worst -- and get going.

Know your neutral position: My least painful position is lying on the floor with my knees on a chair or bed. I sleep this way when my body is inflamed and I'm in pain. The opposite of this is arching your back. Which one works best for you? You need to know what your best position is so that you can use it when you need to.

Ice always works: I personally hate ice, but it always works. Every professional athlete ices before and after every game. Ballerinas often ice up before a performance. If you want to do something, ice is your friend.

Pain medication is a liar: The only thing pain medication tells you is to take more pain medication. It doesn't help with chronic pain and should only be used in emergency situations. Just had surgery? Take the meds. It's been a while? Get off the meds. Anything else, and you're putting your life in danger.

"The way that artists used to make money was — say, if they were a writer — to write books until a publisher published them and the publisher’s salesforce convinced the multiplicity of book-selling channels to take their work, and so on. What you have to acknowledge is that almost nobody succeeded at doing that. And of the people who succeeded at finding a publisher, almost none of them made any money from it. And of the people who made money from it, almost none of them made very much money from it. And of the people who made some money from it, most of them didn’t make money in the long term."

Finally, someone is telling the truth about making money in publishing. He continues to say:

"So, effectively, making money in the arts is and always has been something that happens to almost no one."

This is the truth. In the current publishing market, authors are pitted against each other. Everyone has a position and everyone is sure that someone else is taking their profits from them. Some believe that the Internet has ruined their profits. Others attack those who give their books away for free. People who are traditionally published bicker with those who are independent.

Authors do not benefit from bickering with each other. This author infighting only benefits those in the publishing chain. It allows publishing houses to reduce author fees. It enhances the idea that authors need agents to negotiate these waters. More than anything, the author infighting enhances the idea that the only legitimate work is work published by the Wall Street traded publishing houses.

According to Doctorow, there are only a few ways for an artist/author to make money:

"As far as I can tell, the way artists make money today, although there are some high-tech wrinkles to it, is pretty much the way they’ve always made money from the arts.

They sell stuff, so they embody their art in some physical thing and ask people for money for it.

They sell things around the thing they’ve done — in other words, merchandise.

They sell tickets to performances or displays of their work.

They seek out patronage. Of course, that last is the one that has shifted most since the pre-Internet days... and,

Advertising." (Formatting is mine)

If you're an author, you need to take a good, hard look at how you're making your income. It's not something that's just going to magically happen.

Yes, it happens to some people. But some people win the lotto as well.

If you want to make a living in this business, we have to stop bickering and blaming each other and start building wealth possibilities.

January 08, 2015

(This article was originally posted in my newsletter - Claudia's Corner. You can sign up for the newsletter by clicking here.)

What the heck is happening with publishing? As readers, you have a vested interest in what's going on in the world of publishing. Most of my team at Cook Street Publishing has been involved in publishing since 2001. We've watched this market grow and fall. This year is a doozy.

Here are the top three situations we saw develop last year.

1. Book sales were flat in 2014. In fact, publishing sales (as a whole) have been stagnant since the last quarter of 2012. If you dial down into the US GDP, you'll find that intellectual property (publishing) was down the entire year in 2014.

a) stagnant sales due to the financial squeeze most people feel right now, which makes books a luxury, and b) the market was artificially strong because people were purchasing libraries for their first gadget. Amazon and most Wall Street traded publishers don't share their sales data. However, as an eBook distributor, Smashwords gets the best overview of the whole publishing market. Smashwords' Mark Coker does an excellent review of review of what's going on with eBooks here. You can read his predictions for 2015 here.

Of course, the entire discussion of "what's wrong with publishing" would be incomplete without a mention of high-frequency trading. In the not so recent past, publishers spent their profits on their business -- hiring the best editors, supporting authors, and developing careers. High-frequency trading is a type of stock trading which forces corporations to focus on their stock price at all costs. Thus, profits from publishing are siphoned off to high-frequency traders (usually hedge funds) instead of returned to the business. It's our belief that this Wall Street hijinks will continue to destroy the larger publishers.This business model has led to the proliferation of small publishers (now more than 500,000) like Cook Street Publishing!

3. All writers are freelancers. When we started Cook Street Publishing in 2008, there were published authors (those published by the then 6 Wall Street Traded publishers) and independent authors. Everything changed in December, 2008 when the publishers fired more than half of their professional staff.

Fast forward to 2014, established authors are independently publishing their backlist. Independent authors are getting contracts to write books with larger publishers. On the publishing side, large publishers have reduced multi-book contracts or let authors out of their long term contracts. Some bestselling authors are now publishing in their own companies. In recent years, the number of publishers has risen from 50,000 to more than 500,000 publishers.

There is no longer a distinction between independent authors and "published" authors.

The key question is where an author wishes to take his or her career. The sky is the limit as long as you remember that skydiving is dangerous. The only exception to this is the textbook market. These large publishers continue to do business as they have for the last 300 years. Now that you can rent your textbook, this market is expected to undergo similar changes.

What does this mean for readers?

It's very simple. If you like an author, support them the way you support us. You are amazing people -- the best readers in the world. You've made a huge difference in my life. You can be the difference between an author giving up on writing and continuing to write.

What can you do?

Buy books. Write reviews. Sign up to be a patron. Subscribe to author's email lists. Follow them on Facebook and/or Twitter and say nice things. Tell your friends and colleagues about them. Repin their book covers. Recommend their work to your local library.

Whether your favorite author is a published author or an independent author, authors need your financial support. It's hard to make a living as an author and will only get harder.

The truth of the matter is that a lot of authors will stop writing.

You can keep this from happening by supporting your favorite authors. Your support can make a difference.

How has this affected Cook Street Publishing?

While we don't have the exact figures yet, in 2014, Cook Street Publishing made less than half of

what we made in 2013. The writing is on the walls. We need to change with the times. In response to all of these changes, our team at Cook Street Publishing is reformatting the way we do business. We are a small team, so it's easy for us to move quickly and efficiently.There will be more on that as 2015 unfolds.

January 02, 2015

It's a new year, so it's time to change your passwords. I know it seems crazy, but I change mine every year. I use a system which creates a unique password for every site and every account. I also have the year so that I know when I changed the password.

I use a system where I use a familiar phrase, word, or name. I add something to identify the site, a dash, and then the year.

Phrase + site identifier -2015

Your phrase can be anything you remember. Many people use their mantras or the first letter of their children's names or even the city you grew up in. A unique to you phrase is nearly unhackable. Again, pick something you remember.

Your site identifier can be anything about the site - the first three letters of the name of the site, the last three letters of the site's name, why you use the site (ie, bank, school, etc.). The key is to be consistent and pick something that you remember.

And I add a dash and the date. This way I have a non-letter key in the password (the dash). The date helps me to remember when I changed the passwords.

November 04, 2014

I believe in peace. It's something I was willing to argue with my father and grandfather about. I started participating in the Blog Blast for peace soon after it started in 2006. Here's a few of my peace globes over the years.

September 12, 2014

We share 99% of the same genetics. Not similar. Not kind of a like. The very same genes.

The extra fluff is the stuff is cultural. For example, prior to 1700s, no one tracked who was white and who was black. So much so that no one (and I mean not a single person) knows when the mutation to white came about. In fact, it's never mentioned. Power and wealth were not determined by skin color. And some of the wealthiest and most powerful were dark.

People only started keeping track in the 1700s. They did this as a way to justify slavery in the Americas.

Racism is cultural. Sexism is cultural. They hide the truth that we are the same. #60days2Peace

Update: This post originally said we had 91% the same genetics. It turns out we have 99% the same genetics.

September 11, 2014

"Human rights" is an idea that hasn't been around for very long. Out of the ashes of the Holocast and World War II, the United Nations Assembly adopted the first formal definition of human rights called The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

Prior to 1948, the discussion of human rights was something for the philosophers. Many people didn't agree with the idea that all people held an unalienable right. They wanted to hold these rights for themselves, but couldn't imagine them for anyone else, let alone everyone else.

"Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

"Universal human rights are often expressed and guaranteed by law, in the forms of treaties, customary international law , general principles and other sources of international law. International human rights law lays down obligations of Governments to act in certain ways or to refrain from certain acts, in order to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals or groups."

The acceptance of human rights is only 66 years old.

If we are to have peace, we must protect human rights. The Secretary-General joined John Stewart to talk about just this issue.

Mimi Lenox asked me to write about Peace for sixty days. I've been keeping up on Facebook. However, I know that a lot of people aren't on Facebook.

This is what I've posted in the last week:

_________________________________

How do we make peace when we have so many enemies?

We all want peace. Yet we all have people who bring us grief, which is why I adore this thoughtful, helpful, even joyous interview with Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman at On Being. You can't have peace unless you deal with your enemies.

This is an audio interview which can be downloaded from Sound Cloud. You can find it here.

_________________________________

Make peace with yourself

It's possible that we come in this way. We came from the beyond and know the expanse of the beyond. Then suddenly we are in these fragile bodies with such limited ability to see well, hear clearly, or think easily.

At some point, we must accept our human bodies and human life. We must learn that we are enough.

_________________________________

Practice peace by saying hello

As one of our "cultivate peace practices," the husband and I actively say: "Good morning" to people on our morning walks in the park. Yes, people look at us oddly. Yes, men think I'm trying to pick them up. But over time, people have started to go out of their way to wave or say hello. I'd encourage you to give it a try!

My sunflower seeds grew this amazing sunflower which is now feeding my bees (they are super yellow which is how I know they're mine) in my neighbors yards. What you give out comes back to you. #60days2peace.

I gave my neighbor these seeds when she had me over for dinner. That's how she got them.

_________________________________

Fighting for peace by prosecuting monsters

In our conversation about peace, we must also talk about war and crimes against humanity. When I was a child, monsters got away with doing monstrous things and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Not so today. The International Crimes Court researches and prosecutes monsters, as does the UN Crimes against Humanity courts.

Most recently, the top Khmer Rouge leaders were found guilty of crimes against humanity - and will spend the rest of their lives in prison. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28670568It's not much considering they are in their 80s. But to me, it's amazing.

_________________________________

What can little ol' me do?

Sometimes, I wonder what little ol' me can do to create peace in the world. I'm just me. What can I do? Then I remember all the "little ol' me's" who have changed the world. One of my favorites is Sojourner Truth. She was named Isabella Baumfree by her Dutch owners. #60days2peace

Here's a little bit about her:

"In 1815, Isabella, a slave girl of about seventeen living in Ulster County, New York, married Thomas, an older man who belonged, as she did, to the Dumont family. Over the next eleven years Isabella bore Thomas five children, in between stints of strenuous labor in the fields. New York had recognized the legality of marriages between slaves in 1809, meaning that now the couple and their children could not be sold apart from each other. Isabella herself had been sold away from her own parents at the age of nine for a hundred dollars, when their master died and his estate went up for auction. Isabella's first owner had been a Dutch American, and the child's first language was Dutch. Her next owner, an English-speaker, beat her for not comprehending his commands; her back bore the scars for the rest of her life. By 1810, she had been sold twice more (each owner realizing a profit on the transaction), ending up with the Dumonts.

"The state of New York had adopted a program of gradual emancipation, decreeing that slaves born after the Fourth of July 1799 should become free at age twenty-eight (for males) or twenty-five (for females). This would allow the owner who bore the cost of rearing the children reimbursement with several of their prime working years. Isabella, having been born before the cutoff date, would remain in slavery for the rest of her life. But in 1817, the New York legislature sped up the emancipation process and decreed that on July 4, 1827, all remaining slaves, whenever born, should become free. Masters would receive no financial compensation from the state but did have one more decade to exploit their chattels' unpaid labor. Shortly before the final emancipation took effect, Isabella's five-year-old son was sold away from her, south to Alabama. This constituted a violation of New York law; the newly free Isabella took the remarkable step of suing for and obtaining the boy's return, an act that set a pattern for her lifetime of resolute opposition to injustice.

"Having developed an active prayer life in childhood under the guidance of her mother, Isabella grew into a fervent 'Holiness' Methodist. Once free, she left her husband (who may have been chosen for her by their owner) and became an itinerant preacher. She warned of the Second Coming of Christ and demanded the abolition of slavery throughout the nation. In 1843, she adopted the name Sojourner Truth, appropriate for a traveling herald of the Divine Word. Although illiterate, she spoke powerfully and dictated a financially successful autobiography. Five feet eleven inches tall, with dark skin and a muscular frame, Sojourner Truth commanded attention from an audience. Her resonant voice had a New York working-class accent that never lost traces of the Dutch." From What Hath God Wrought: The transformation of America

July 02, 2014

I thought it might be fun and interesting to talk to writers about what they write and how they get their write on. Dan McNeil, the author of The Judas Apocolypse and Can't Buy Me Love, stopped by to answer a few questions.

What genre of fiction do you write?

I don’t really have one. My first book, The Judas Apocalypse doesn’t exactly fit into one specific genre. It’s been described as a treasure hunt novel, historical fiction (WW2) and an adventure book all rolled up as one. My second, Can’t Buy Me Love is a light-hearted romp about a bank heist during the Beatles’ first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. That book doesn’t quite fit one genre either. Ironically, the only thing these books have in common is that they aren’t from the same genre. I just write the kind of story that would interest me as a reader.

I know you were a journalist. Do you still keep a toe in the non-fiction world?

I used to work in television news, first as a camera operator, then later as an editor. I wrote the intro headlines and the teasers leading into commercials. That’s as close to non-fiction as I ever got.

Do you consider yourself an indie author or a publisher's author?

Both of my books are traditionally published. My publishers are supportive but they are limited in what they can provide their authors so I spend a great deal of time on promotion myself the way many of my self-published author friends do because it is a necessary part of the business.

Are you still composing music?

Writing music is like writing novels. It is a part of you that you can’t escape and a great way to express yourself. They both go hand in hand in my opinion. I do compose when I get the chance. In fact, for the release of Canada Post’s Titanic stamp commemorative, I wrote two separate pieces for their accompanying videos. I’d love to do more though.

At one point, you were playing with a band. Are you still playing with them?

Absolutely. I love having the chance to play with Bazooka Joe because I consider them to be among the best players in Ottawa. I’m the keyboard player, so I am, by definition, the uncoolest player in the band, and I’m okay with that. We do mostly classic rock covers but we’re not averse to playing just about anything. In the past we’ve done everything from 50’s and 60’s to classic rock to pop to country to whatever, often on the spur of the moment with some truly interesting (and sometimes horrifying) results.

How do you write?

I find setting aside the time and sticking to it to be the most difficult part of writing. Just getting started is so tough! When I do manage to get my butt in gear, I’ll usually write early in the morning. I like the stillness and the quiet of early mornings. Some of my best work is done while everyone else is still asleep.

Are you a structured, outline kind of guy or a just start and see where it takes you guy?

I’ll usually have a basic outline, but I’m definitely a “see where it takes you” kind of writer. There were moments when I was writing The Judas Apocalypse where it felt like the writing just took off on its own. I had a run of a couple of days where I blasted through about six chapters. It really did feel like it was writing itself. I just followed it to see where it would lead.

What do you do when you get stuck?

Lots of bourbon (kidding.)

I realized early on that it can’t be forced. I have to let it happen. I had a pretty major case of writer’s block when I was writing Can’t Buy Me Love. My copy editor suggested (and she was right) that I needed to add a love scene. I’d never written anything remotely like that before and I hit a wall. No, actually it was more like a head on collision. It was unbelievably difficult to write. It took - don’t laugh - about six months to pull off (no pun intended.) I discovered that I had to leave it alone for a while (although I would suggest that six months is a little long) and once I figured out the angle of where the scene was coming from, it became easier.

I know you generously participate in Writer's Wednesday on Twitter. What does it mean to you? Why do it?

I just think it’s good thing to promote other authors. We’re all in this together, trying to get our books out, right? There is an amazing amount of great writers out there and I figure it’s a great way to discover them, their work and what they’ve got to offer.

What's next for you?

I’m not sure. I have a couple of ideas I’m banging around - a suspense thriller, a murder mystery western, possibly a prequel to The Judas Apocalypse, possibly a sequel to Can’t Buy Me Love, or even a series of short stories. I just need to pick one and start writing! One thing I do know for sure – the book isn’t going to fit into any of the other genres I’ve written before.

You can catch up with Dan on his website or Twitter. Judas Apocalypse and Can't Buy Me Love are available everywhere books are sold.

Claudia is the author of the Alex the Fey thriller series, the sweet and crunchy Denver Cereal, the post-apocalyptic tale Jornada del Muerto, the Seth and Ava Mysteries, Suffer a Witch, and the Queen of Cool.